This is why Argentina did not legalize abortion this week

This is why Argentina did not legalize abortion this week

by Julia María Rubio
August 11, 2018

After months of debates and a close favorable vote by the Argentine House in June, the Argentine Senate has voted down a bill that would have legalized abortion. Despite House support and a large feminist mobilization on behalf of the bill, the Senate — which over-represents the votes of rural and conservative constituencies — rejected the bill, 38 to 31.

Here are five things to know about the politics of legalizing abortion in Argentina.

Continued: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/08/11/this-is-why-argentina-did-not-legalize-abortion-this-week/?utm_term=.6f4229f49515

They Lost Argentina’s Abortion Vote, but Advocates Started a Movement

They Lost Argentina’s Abortion Vote, but Advocates Started a Movement

By Daniel Politi and Ernesto Londoño
Aug. 9, 2018

BUENOS AIRES — They narrowly lost the vote. But as supporters of a bill to legalize abortion in Argentina began to shake off a stinging defeat in the Senate on Thursday, they took consolation in having galvanized a reproductive-rights movement across Latin America and began to consider how to redirect their activism.

A coalition of young female lawmakers who stunned the political establishment by putting abortion rights at the top of the legislative agenda this year seemed to be on the verge of a historic victory with the bill. But intense lobbying by Catholic Church leaders and staunch opposition in conservative northern provinces persuaded enough senators to vote against it.

Continued: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/09/world/americas/argentina-abortion-laws-south-america.html

09.08.2018

abortion rights activists

Adolfo Rubenstein

Benjamin Gedan

Catholic Church

Center for Legal and Social Studies

Center for the Promotion and Defense of Sexual and Reproductive Rights

Center for the Study of State and Society

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner

Debora Diniz

decriminalization of abortion

International Women's Health Coalition

President Mauricio Macri

pro-choice campaigners

Susana Chávez

violence against women

Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

Ecuador: Congress Boosts Women’s Protection Against Violence

Ecuador: Congress Boosts Women's Protection Against Violence

Published 29 November 2017

According to the National Institute of Statistics, 244 women have been murdered in Ecuador since 2014.

Ecuadorean lawmakers have approved a bill better protecting women against domestic violence and femicide while guaranteeing free access to public healthcare for those suffering complications during an abortion, a procedure still banned in the Andean country.

The bill was unanimously approved November 25, on the evening of the International Day of Elimination of Violence Against Women, and dispatched to the government waiting for approval. However, Monica Aleman, a lawmaker from the center-left governing party, then made a request to modify the bill.

Continued at source: https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Ecuadors-Congress-Approves-Bill-on-Gender-Violence-20171129-0043.html

Demanding Access to Abortion in South Korea

Demanding Access to Abortion in South Korea
235,000 Petitioners Call for South Korean Government to Act

Heather Barr, Senior Researcher, Women's Rights Division heatherbarr1
November 24, 2017

Abortion is illegal in South Korea. But women are demanding change, and more than 235,000 have signed a petition, posted by a netizen on September 30 on the presidential office website, that calls for the government to legalize abortion, including by providing access to mifepristone, an abortion-inducing drug available in many countries around the world.

This petition mechanism demonstrates a new level of access and participation in South Korea’s government. The way it works is the government allows members of the public to post a petition on its website for 30 days. In August, the new government of president Moon Jae-in reiterated its commitment by pledging to formally respond within 30 days to any petition that gathers more than 200,000 signatures.

Continued at source: https://www.hrw.org/news/2017/11/24/demanding-access-abortion-south-korea

24.11.2017

petition to legalize abortion

President Moon Jae-in

violence against women

Ireland: To the woman who talked me out of having an abortion

To the woman who talked me out of having an abortion

By Taryn de Vere
May 11, 2017

These raw, powerful experiences were relayed recently to Taryn de Vere by 'Claire' - whose name has been changed to protect her privacy...

"I was a lone parent with one child and no family support. I received €222.80 a week from social welfare to cover the cost of housing, clothing and feeding me and my child.

I already had one abusive man in my life at the point I found out I was pregnant and thanks to you now I have two.

I came to you with a crisis pregnancy and unbeknownst to me you were anti choice. I actually remember you telling me that I “couldn’t possibly” have an abortion, as if the choice was yours to make.

Continued at link: Her: https://www.her.ie/contributor/woman-talked-abortion-346570

11.05.2017

anti-choice deception

violence against women

women's abortion stories

Abortion isn’t going to be decriminalized in Honduras anytime soon

Abortion isn’t going to be decriminalized in Honduras anytime soon
By Carter Sherman on May 5, 2017

Honduras’s draconian abortion laws will remain in place for the foreseeable future after feminist groups failed to convince lawmakers to soften the country’s complete ban on abortion Thursday.

Honduras is one of a handful of countries worldwide that criminalizes abortion in all circumstances, and any woman who undergoes one may be imprisoned for up to six years. But for the past two years, Honduran lawmakers have been in the midst of completely overhauling the country’s penal code for the first time in more than three decades, explained Elida Caballero Cabrera, advocacy adviser for Latin America and the Caribbean for the Center for Reproductive Rights. United Nations experts and several feminist groups within Honduras believed they had a chance to rewrite the abortion ban too.

Continued at source: VICE: https://news.vice.com/story/abortion-isnt-going-to-be-decriminalized-in-honduras-anytime-soon

UK: Abortion Rights Campaigners Say It’s “Extremely Worrying” That Anti-Abortion Protesters Used Facebook Live Outside A Clinic

Abortion Rights Campaigners Say It’s "Extremely Worrying" That Anti-Abortion Protesters Used Facebook Live Outside A Clinic

Anti-abortion group Abort67 used Facebook Live to stream its demonstration near a BPAS abortion clinic in Hastings.
posted on Feb. 13, 2017
Laura Silver
BuzzFeed News Reporter

Abortion rights campaigners have expressed concern that livestreaming could be used to publicly shame people seeking abortions, after an anti-abortion group used Facebook Live to broadcast a recent demonstration outside a clinic.

Abort67, which regularly uses graphic images of aborted foetuses in its protests, held a demonstration outside Hastings railway station on Friday to launch a new local branch of the group. The station is situated directly opposite a British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic, a leading provider of abortion services.

Continued at source: Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/pro-choice-campaigners-say-its-extremely-worrying-that-anti?utm_term=.hf5ao9g6Oq#.tcaEDq5vx9

Argentina: Tucumán’s abortion trials placed in spotlight

Demonstrators take part in a march demanding Belén’s release in front Tucumán’s courts. A sign reads “my body, my choice”.

By Ximena Schinca
Herald staff
Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Rights groups hail the release of ‘Belén’ — but activists say the problems in the province run deeper
An online campaign, in the wake of the temporary release of a prisoner from jail, is seeking to build momentum and pile pressure on the authorities in Tucumán province, while abortion rights are currently high on the national agenda.

“The #YoSoyBelén (“I am Belén”) campaign is aimed at the medical and judicial staff who displayed intent to violate ‘Beléns’ privacy, and at showing that all women, any of us could be ‘Belén,” said Alejandra del Castillo, a member of a campaign group who battled for the 27-year-old’s release from jail, in conversation with the Herald.

Del Castillo was addressing the recent social media campaign that was launched in order to build awareness about health rights and the victim’s recent experiences in the northern province.

[continued at link]
Source: Buenos Aires Herald

23.08.2016